Partners... of Sorts.

[Grym Kandle]

Music played throughout the ship's speakers, a soft orchestra of wind instruments that invoked a sense of drowning or falling asleep. Grym was comfortable enough to fall asleep. His mask was hanging from a post and he was dressed in robes made of Dantooine's finest kel'hound furs, dyed a dark blue. Very comfortable.

Grym sat in the Captain's quarters, sifting through his first batch of information from Morgan again. He had four pilots lined up to visit, four messages waiting to be sent to contact them. But nothing was going to happen today until Bambi arrived. It was the fifth day since he had visited his old friend at the small club she worked at.

She had said four to five days tops, clear enough and understandable. But if she did not arrive within the day, Grym would be departing to the next docking bay he was scheduled for. Bay jumping kept a single man hard to find usually and by using a complex pattern to it, only an astromech droid would bother finding where Grym might be located. Overall, he was confident there would not be any problems with her arrival. She had the schedule and he knew Bambi for being sure to her word.

But her arrival would mean he could continue his business if they did not talk for too long. Grym actually had seven definite spice pilots on the list. Three belonged to the Hutts though and Grym did not want to attract their attention. But, supposed freelancers often belonged to other syndicates that did not bother to openly claim their smugglers. Kandle was banking on this, hoping one of the four might have something to do with the Black Sun, as his proposition would more than likely send flags up the grape vine. If he played his cards as he planned, the flags would not bring a hail of blaster fire down on him. It was often considered an entrepreneur's risk.

Slowly chewing on root from Onderon, Grym stopped for a moment as a random thought occured to him. Breft'kel's Treasure had been designed for Breft'kel and only Breft'kel. Now that Grym had acquired it, he faced the dilemma of adding another person on board. Breft'kel had removed the crew's quarters for extra accessories leaving the ship only capable house one person. Finding a new string of connections in the data before him, he dismissed the problem. He'd deal with it later.

[Bambi Maddox]

"Grym!"

Bambi's raised voice broke into Grym's thoughts.

"Hey! Grym!"

He heard a dull thudding as Bambi banged her flatted palm on the outside hull.

"You there? Give me a hand will ya? Grym!"

Outside, Bambi was lugging/dragging up to the ships loading ramp the biggest box-trunk one could buy and still have it fit into the back end of a hovercab.

Loaded inside was all her worldly possessions. Clothing, photographs, cooking utensils, the odd hydrospanner, a stuffed monkey. She even had a book or two in it.

Bambi had given her notice to her boss the next morning after Grym's visit to her at the club. Told him it was time to move on. She wasn't getting any younger, and she had not seen enough of the Core worlds to be satisfied. And so - it was off into the great unknown.
Her boss didn't seemed too perturbed. A little reaction would have been nice, but what does a slob like Greevor know anyhow.
She paid up her rent, finalised some bills, and was golden.

Banging once again, Bambi did her worst to rouse Grym within.

"Hey - you sleeping? Its midday. I need a hand! Yo, Grym!"

[Grym Kandle]

Grym stood, accessing the ship's external camera. From below the cockpit, a small orb positioned on a skinny neck dropped down and quickly scanned the area before disappearing just as fast. Grym smiled at the image he had of Bambi making dents in the rust bucket but he figured he would go help her in before she tore a new door into the hull.

The loading ramp dropped and Grym casually made his way down. Ducking under a few sustainment pipes and over the power cable, Grym stopped just short of Bambi as he saw that the large object behind her had been.

"I'm surprised you got that this far, much less found a cab to manage it. I would hope there isn't more than that."

His scarred face twisted in something of a worried smile. The ship could carry a lot but this thing would take up an entire compartment. Especially if she wanted to be able to get to it easily. Grym had only lived with one woman before and she had not been much of a living thing to really interact with. That one had slept and ate only while they had lived together, rarely talking unless it was about their next sweep. And she had been more scarred and deformed than Grym, not from drugs though, something else had taken its toll on her body.

Bambi would definitely be a new experience. The ship was home and would be until Grym's optimistic plans for Black Sun came through. This home was going to be a bit cramped until Grym could get rid of some of his cargo with the smugglers. And since he had adopted the mask for all general purposes, his privacy had become something of a precious asset when he didn't have to wear the mask and he could just fall into drug induced trances of clarity. He was already trying to mentally prepare himself for the adjustments to come.

He stepped forward and slipped his fingers into the handle. With an amount of effort, he pulled the trunk up the loading ramp and set it inside the nearest cargo hold. Stretching his arm out, he realized he probably could have hurt himself pulling that box around for too long.

"I'd also hope everything in there is essential. And err..."

The dilemma of space and lack there of occured to Grym once more. He headed back to the Captain's quarters, the proximity still close enough that she could easily hear him down the hall. He went ahead and forwarded the messages to the four pilots. Grym would meet one after the other on a predetermined time schedule. But that would not be until later in the evening, much later in fact.

He turned off the music and closed the rest of the information down for the moment. Packing what few things he had in the room into a small compartment.

"There's uhhh... kind of only one room. I'll set something else up for me later."

[Bambi Maddox]

Bambi meandered down the hall in the opposite direction to Grym as he stowed her trunk, and began looking the ship over with general interest.

"That's ok," she called to him from within cockpit area "Im not shy and I dont take up much room"

She tossed a handful of jellybeans from the packet in her pocket into her mouth, chewing with relish as she scanned over the ships instrument panel.

"Nice crate you got here Grym. She fast?"

Bambi's lips smacked absent-mindedly as she ran a hand over the bulkhead supports.

"I bet she's fast"

[Grym Kandle]

Grym smirked at her comment. He honestly had no clue how well the ship traveled really. It seemed to do alright in the atmosphere and since "acquiring" it, he had yet to take it off the planet.

"I'd bet she's fast too if you asked me. The ship was heavily modified for smuggling purposes by her former owner and pilot, who's name is still on the ship's tag unfortunately. Breft'kel's Treasure... Breft'kel is also the one responsible for the horrible interior design."

Breft'kel had been responsible for a lot of things. Grym had already made sure his obligations had been paid off though, many times over. He had been approaching the cockpit when the thought of Breft'kel had stopped him in his tracks. One sleezy smuggler had arranged the doom of an entire syndicate. The back stabbing pilot might have succeeded if not for the syndicate's lead sweeper surviving and exacting his due revenge. Closing his eyes, he slowly tried to push it away as he did not want it to carry over on Bambi.

The ship was a Correllian transport, similar to a microsized Correllian corvette the Rebels were famous for acquiring. The design made it more of a needle, the back hosting the engine and the bulk of the space while one hallway led to the cockpit, a few small rooms and compartments along the way.

Making his way into the the cockpit made for only two, Grym took a seat and slowly turned to face Bambi.

"A tour's not really necessary I guess. You just saw the whole thing from when you entered in the back to coming to the cockpit in the front. I'll show you where the secret compartments are later, at least all the ones I've found. Don't mess with any of the large black crates, the materials within are very sensitive. The more pure forms of the spices in my inventory don't react well to any light or the horrible atmosphere around here either."

[Bambi Maddox]

"Okay" Bambi shot Grym with her thumb and forefinger shaped like a gun and gave a corresponding "click" sound, "No touchng of the black crates--got it."

She stepped around the remaining vacant pilot chair and plopped her slender frame into it. She took the jellybean packet from her pocket, tipping another half-dozen into her mouth. Tilting her hand over to Grym, she offered him the candy also while she examined the flight panel more closely.

"Got any other rules I should know about?"

[Grym Kandle]

"Don't offer me food."

Grym grinned, gently pressing her hand away. His digestive system was frail at times and he did not like to push his luck too much with it.

"If you find anything on the ship that might remotely look dangerous, notify me before touching it. I am not entirely sure if I've gotten all of Breft'kel's booby traps. But I scoured the ship and found hopefully everything so it shouldn't be a problem. Other than that, what other rules there are, we'll pick up as we go along and I see what you do wrong."

His grin only got wider as he teased her about the rules.

"You look any closer at that panel, your nose will hit a button. You know anything about piloting?"

[Bambi Maddox]

Bambi matched his grin.

"I know enough. I Can get us out of a jam if I have to. Though, Im a bit rusty"

Rusty was slightly understating things, but hey, flying was just like riding a bike wasn't it?

She leaned back, stretching against the seat.

"I've got just one rule for you.."

Grym arched an inquiring eyebrow.

"Keep me in the loop"

The grin was replaced by a candid look.

"The way I see it, we are gonna have to depend on each other for a while. Me more than you -- that makes me nervous as I haven't had to depend on anyone other than myself in a long while. It helps to know whats going on."

[Grym Kandle]

"And I've never had anyone depend on me in sometime for anything other than removing... problems. I've gotta get used to the concept as much as you do... but I'll try to keep you more informed."

Grym had tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling as he spoke. His voice had carried an edge but it faded away with a calm undertone by the end of it.

"I'm a bit rusty with people, if you couldn't tell? But yeah, I'll go over the basic itinerary of what's going on right now. I'm establishing a foothold in the spice business. I'm avoiding the Hutts in all possible aspects. I'm planning on drawing out Black Sun by hopefully attracting some of their own pilots. By proving myself more than capable as a front of business and a useful addition to their syndicate, we get in. From there I plan to subtly introduce my abilities as a sweeper. As for you...

I've got you here, you know my basic plan, where do you want to come in? Anything I can do, you can learn."

The last part actually only went so far at the moment.

[Bambi Maddox]

Grym was talking about getting noticed by the right people. That was not an easy thing to do. Usually, if you were too good, that could draw the wrong kind of attention as much as it could the right.

It was a fine line, and one to be danced carefully.

No wonder he remained ambiguous as much as he possibly could.

Bambi was the opposite. She loved attention. All kinds of attention. And it was her personality to draw it to herself without a seconds thought. She was an exhibitionist to put it bluntly.

Still, sometimes the best way to hide was in plain sight.

"I guess the first thing I should learn is how to blend in with what you've already got cooking on the stove, Grym.

Im not exactly a wallflower, so how do I use that to our best advantage?"

[Grym Kandle]

"Public relations. You have a sense of empathy with others clearly that I lack, or have lost, one of the two, banking on the first."

Grym kept to his wry smile as he continued.

"For now, you can accompany me when I go to see my contacts and watch and listen. Pay attention to the way the conversation is directed and how we go about accomplishing the objectives therein.

A divertion of attention offers us an advantage in our dealings. Three of the four pilots are human, the other being a rodian. The humans will of course find you attractive. Similar concept, less skin revealed, same objective though to keep their mind elsewhere while we cheat the skin off their backs. This is completely up to you.

There's a kind of etiquette when it comes to people who are gambling their lives half the time on their business. And then sometimes you come across individuals who you have to handle completely different.

But for the time being, the basics for handling these pilots... We don't want to scare them away, so no active aggression, everything has to be passive unless drastic circumstances call for otherwise. My mask generally carries this effect and my way of going about business.

No mention of the Hutts, if these pilots had any favor for the Hutts, they'd be working for them. No mention of Black Sun either. The organization calls a far more terrible price down regardless of what side you're on.

Next, most of these people we'll deal with are chumps. Always looking for the supposed bigger, better deal. So everything we offer is going to appeal to that, sounding like what they want to hear. While they think we are the one's comprimising, our intention is that truly they will be. It gets tricky to catch but I'm sure you won't miss it."

Grym pulled up the time schedule and pointed to the next impending date.

"Our next meeting though is not with any of the pilots though. Its with a slicer that is helping me acquire more information on spice business. So far, he's pulled through for me but will see how much more he will tomorrow."

Settling back in the chair, Grym ran a hand through his hair a few times while he tried to think. Hopefully none of these occurences would turn sour, putting Bambi in possible danger. But regardless, all of it would be good experience for her.

"Anything else?"

[Bambi Maddox]

So she needed to keep it cool.

When Grym--they--had their meetings, she needed to watch and listen. And not do anything stupid.

Providing a subtle diversion was something she could do, if and when required. The trick would be in applying just the right mix of outta the way and catching the eye.

"Sounds like a hoot"

She affirmed with good humor.

It all sounded pretty simple to her way of thinking. The real work lay with Grym. The contacts. The rendevous. All that detailed junk.

He asked if she needed anything else and a thought popped for some unknown reason into her head.

"Do I get a gun?"

[Grym Kandle]

"Yes and no."

Grym's frame fluidly stood and turned out of the cockpit. Opening one compartment in a side room, Grym grabbed one of the several blasters in the group. Returning, he held the blaster out for Bambi to take.

"It's a sporting blaster, not as much of a kick but further range. The thing is that I took the power cell out of it, so no ammo. The most of it is for show, you'll put it somewhere it can be seen, seen and not used. For the moment, if anything were to go wrong, I'd handle it. I'll give you a power cell just in case though but do not load the pistol until you absolutely have to. Thats a bad-gone-worse situation though and not likely to happen.

If that's it then, I've got some rearranging to do..."

Grym knew he was not the best conversationalist in the world but then again, he had never really intended on becoming one. He stood this time slower than before, without as much purpose as Grym felt incredibly reluctant to accomplish the task of reorganizing the ship's interior.

"You want anything to eat? I've only got processed ooze though for the moment. I guess we'll buy some real food next time we go out."

Grym walked down the hallway and into the small room containing the foods and perishables. Turning to the kitchen module, he slipped a bowl beneath the dispenser and the grey and blue paste poured down. It was everything the body needed, originally intended as the basic food for the poor during the time of the Old Republic. Then the upgrades came about for the Imperial soldiers. And now it had even made it to the Outer Rim. Humans had extreme dislikings for it in general but other races found it acceptable as a means of living. Grym, as a human, found no problems with it either.

[Bambi Maddox]

At the mention of food, Bambi unfolded herself from the chair and followed closely at Grym's heels.

Peering over his shoulder, the muck that was spouting out of the dispenser unit into a bowl severly curbed her appetite.

"As good as that looks, Grym, Im afraid I'm allergic to grey-blue goop. Something in the.........(she fished for a convincing allergin).......in the, er, in the dye! Yeah. The dye'll kill me," she snapped her fingers "that quick!"

He could hear the distaste in her voice without seeing her face.

She patted him encouragingly on the back, "You go right ahead though. I'm thinking we got some time, so mind if I get a few supplies -- you know some food, coffee, beer, stuff that wont kill ya?"

She was already heading back down the corridor, having placed the blaster (such as it was) beside the dispenser on the slim countertop. "Thanks for the gun. I'll stow it with my gear when I get back."


Stepping though the exit, her voice reached to him disembodied from the tarmac. "I wont be long"

Bambi strode off in order to get a ride to the market area, the fright of Grym's idea of lunch still lingering in her gut.

[Grym Kandle]

Grym watched her leave then shrugged. He could barely taste much of anything these days, one side of his tongue, painfully at times, had also taken to the side effects of his drug abuse. The ooze was relatively cool and gave Grym what he needed to keep going. He didn't bother with an eating utensil, instead sipping from the small bowl as he moved about the ship, reorganizing it slowly but surely.

When the motion detectors Grym had set on watch began to signal, he checked outside and lowered the ramp as Bambi entered the docking bay.

"One can pray she doesn't come bearing another cargo trunk."

He was reluctant to see anyways and turned away, finishing the last bit of his meal before tossing the bowl in the cleaner.

[Bambi Maddox]

Two gourmet dogs with onions, relish and ketchup, one slice apple pie a-la-mode and a cola later, Bambi strolled back toward the ship.

Pulling a small trundle along behind her, she conveyed her purchases with ease of motion toward the craft. Bags of grocery items, canned goods, flats of beer, water and a huge container of coffee contested for space on the cart.

Continuing up the ramp, Bambi felt satisfied that she would not starve in the next week atleast.

Grym had been organizing the space she noted, and hadn't done too bad a job. A life lived alone was sometimes a hinderance to organization for some. They had no one to answer to and so lived accordingly with even their surroundings reflecting their devil-may-care lifestyle. But Grym, who's entire life relied on having everything in its place, his ducks lined in a row, who, to be unorganized was to risk exposure. In his line of work, exposure could be lethal.

Even the contents of the cupboard were organized - placed in order of height from biggest to smallest. He'd make a good husband to someone she murmured to herself as she began packing away the food, if he didn't drive them mad first.
With a shake of her head, Bambi just packed the items in with random, haphazard disorder.

"Hey Grym -- where are we meeting this slicer buddy of yours?" she called, eyeing her hoard a tad too protectively. Wonder if he likes grey-blue goop..

[Grym Kandle]

Coming out of the lounge to see Bambi packing away her groceries without any kind of helpful ordering, Grym managed a half smile as he stood by her side, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"We'll meet the slicer at lunch tomorrow. We'll be there an hour early for good measure. Its a club similar to the place you were previously employed to, but this one is owned by a former associate of mine whom we will e making a small delivery to as well. It's been relatively easy so far working with the slicer so I'm not necessarily expecting anything dramatic tomorrow."

Grym eyed the horrible mess Bambi was making of all the unhealthy food she had bought. Grym had enough health issues as it was, getting a heart attack from expensive taste was not something else he wanted to add on his list. And he made a note to rearrange the mess later when he had the time.

Beep Beep Beeep Beeeeep Beeeeeeeep

Grym's head turned sharply. His trained wariness removing his previous thoughts with ease as he moved with all due haste to the console that was beeping. Grym accessed the console, quickly reading the information that appeared on the screen. One intruder entering the motion sensor's range from the service elevator on the other side of the docking bay. A likely entry point that Grym had planned on. But that the ramp for the ship was still down and there was not enough time to pull it up.

Grym grabbed his mask and cloak from the wall, donning them both in seconds. He did not have the rest of his gear but these two would do well enough for the situation hopefully.

"Bambi. Grab your gun... we have an unwanted guest."

Grym did not take the time to stop in te small room any longer to make sure she had heard him, his voice sharp but near a whisper, mechanically cold as it was emitted from the mask. All the consoles on the ship now showed what Grym had pulled up. The motion trackers were still actively tracking the individual who was nearing the port side of the ship, steadily headed towards the ramp.

Grym had weapons within the compartments of his cloak but none were drawn as he rested beside the ramp entrance. Making sure he had ample cover, Grym prayed the intruder was stupid enough to just walk up the ramp casually. Grym doubted it though, the intruder was intelligent enough to approach from an atypical entrance, and walk on the side of a particular model of ship where the turrets had no p.o.v.

Turning his head slightly, he tried to whisper down the hall.

"Bambi?"

For all Grym knew, the trespasser might have a disrupter rifle, the quickest way to die that Grym knew of.

[Bambi Maddox]

Bambi picked up the blaster, unenthused by the fact that it was of no practical use without a power cell. She held it flat against her leg as she moved out of the kitchen area and pressed herself against the corner of the corridor.

Tilting her head forward, she angled her view to see Grym crouched and facing the doorway away from her.

He said something -- she could tell by his body language and the slight lifting of his head -- but she couldn't hear what it was.

Bambi guessed the first sign of things going bad would be a laser bold careening by her head.

Holding her breath, she alternately watched Grym and the open doorway. And waited.

[Grym Kandle]

Grym stilled his breathing, the mask covering most of it as one hand appeared at the side of the ramp, as if the trespasser was inspecting it. It assumed it had time, that whomever had left the ramp down was too casual to notice it had arrived through the back door. The hand was normally gloved, not out of proportion to a humanoid but on Nar Shadda, that could still be thousand possibilities.

He couldn't glance back to see if Bambi was there but he hoped she was at least bringing the blaster. The practical application of her gun was still not in its ability to kill but to threaten. And a threat could cost an opponent seconds to factor in. That was good enough by Grym's standards.

Grym caught a glance of the nozzle of a blaster, long enough to be a rifle. It was armed as well, to be expected. Grym stood silently and began to back up, moving into the side corner of the door, away from any chance of being spotted once the intruder made its way up the ramp. Grym now spotted Bambi and gestured for her to hide.

The foot steps of the unwanted guest could be heard clearly, ringing with the sound of metal as it slowly approached. The anticipation was aggravating almost, something so simple should have been dealt with so much faster. This one was trying to break in for something, but it was just too routine. Grym had a much better look at the intruder as it walked right by his hiding place though.

An Aqualish, black orb-like eyes and walrus-like mouth, the race's reputation was not much better than their Quarren brethren, the Mon Calamari being the only race on that water-forsaken planet to have a "good" bone in their body. But Grym was not one for galactic politics. Nonetheless, the Aqualish continued inwards, cautiously but not well enough. Grym made one stealth stride and was immediately behind it. Disarming a foe from behind was a simple maneuver in the Echani style, it did not look graceful at first, but the style was designed for damage.

The Aqualish gave a gargled yell as it hit the ground, a small text running across the bottom of Grym's vision as the mask translated the pitiful cry for help. The rifle, in seconds, had transitioned to Grym's possession. The barrel of it pressed against the Aqualish' fuzzy forehead. Grym was kneeling and all the intruder could see was a cloak and an ivory mask. Grym's mechanical voice came out like a vibroblade being unsheathed.

"Answer my questions and you will live."

More garbled responses.

Please don't kill me! Please! I didn't know! I didn't know! I was just here to make sure the lady got home safely!"

Grym glanced up to Bambi quickly before returning to the Aqualish. Unless Bambi could understand their native tongue, which Grym would never bother to do, she'd be lost in these conversations. He made a note for obtaining a translator for her later. Grym continued the rushed interrogation.

"Don't bother with lies, drenbag. You followed her thinking she was easy pickings?"

The skin of the Aqualish pressed downwards as the rifle pressed into its forehead harder. It tried to nod but resulted in hurting itself only a more.

"Apologize to the Lady then... Get on your knees and beg."

Grym's voice was quiet but held a commanding undertone, something he had learned to utulize while he played his part in the syndicates. He was by no means a devoted leader but intimidation and command were tools often needed by effective sweepers.

The Aqualish was crying it seemed by this point as Grym allowed him to slowly crawl to his knees. It grasped its hands together and started shaking them in a gesture of apology, blubbering excuses and apologies.

[Bambi Maddox]

Bambi moved slowly from against the wall, ignoring Grym's direction to hide now that the Aqualish was on his knees and at his mercy.

She took a cautious step forward.

"I..I dont remember seeing him, Grym. Honest."

Bambi wasn't sure but Grym seemed pretty mad. She hadn't led the alien to the ship on purpose. Why would anyone follow her anyway?

[Grym Kandle]

The blank gaze of Grym's mask turned to Bambi slowly from the Aqualish. His silent anger slowly moved away from any suspicions he might have had. Truth was an aspect, that if one looked hard enough, it could be found in the eyes. But that had only been a possibility, Grym had banked more on the Aqualish just being a street thug looking for an easy purse to snatch.

Gently, he removed the pistol from Bambi's hand, withdrawing a power cell and slowly sliding it in the blaster. The weapon could be heard activating slightly as Grym set it at maximum before holding it out towards Bambi, grip first. The muzzle of the rifle was still pressed against the intruder's head.

"This is part of learning the ropes, "The Extent of Our Mercy 101." Kill him."

Grym was not trying to be comforting or apathetic at the moment. He was monotone merely because the following act was part of the job, the life. Grym could not make this out to be a pleasure cruise for her, this was a basis of how life managed in the shadows. The survival rate was, on average, low unless you worked inside the system, playing the part of a natural cause, death. Even then, insurance was not that reliable.

[Bambi Maddox]

"What? Who, me?"

Bambi was stunned. Her? kill him? Right here in the passageway in cold blood? Just like that?

"You want me to shoot him, just like that?"

Surely Grym was horsing around. He didn't look like he was horsing around. And that Aqualish sure didn't think he was horsing around because his fish eyes were bulging out of their sockets alarmingly. Bambi laughed a nervous laugh.

"You actually want me t--"

She didn't get to finish what she was saying because the pinned Aqualish seized on her hesitation, He twisted suddenly and hard against Grym's grasp and swung up one desperate hand to the pistol held loosely in Bambi's hand. The action discharged the weapon and a laser bolt shot out with lightening speed..

[Grym Kandle]

The bolt scored the Aqualish in the chest, his body lurching backwards. The ivory mask gazed at Bambi for a moment longer before Grym reached down, seizing the corpse by the arm.

Maybe this was her first; it had not sounded entirely intentional, but these were the best ropes Grym knew to teach.

"Take deep breaths. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Then remember why the Aqualish died, as a consequence for his actions. Cause and effect, everyone makes choices and we must all rejoice or suffer our consequences. Keep breathing."

Everything in the galaxy was easier said than done, but like many things, even dealing death came more naturally with practice.

The Aqualish' body was twitching slightly, its bulbous eyes already glazed over.

[Bambi Maddox]

Bambi jumped with a start as the blaster fired, scoring the Aqualish square in the chest.

"Oh my...frell, I shot him"

She was aghast. Her eyes were huge orbs starting from her head as she flicked her gaze from the smoking wound in the intruders chest, to Grym and then back again.

"I killed him. Dead." She inched a wary step closer. "Grym is he really dead?"

Grym nudged the alien with his rifle barrel. The lack of response reminded Bambi of a filletted fish she'd once ordered at the Wired Monk. The head and tail had still been attached as it was grilled over an open flame. The Aqualish had the same surprised look on his face as had her entree.

With the proof of the prodding, Bambi stepped even closer, her fright giving way to morbid curiosity.

She leaned now over the corpse and noticed his lips were drawing back in a death grin.

"Its pretty easy to kill somethin, aint it Grym" she whispered, slightly awed.

[Grym Kandle]

Her response caught Grym completely off guard. It was probably the most pleasing event he had witnessed in some time. He had expected anxiety, fear, and a lack of confidence as she realized that she had just permanently removed a life from the galaxy.

Instead she had responded... a lot like... he had? Grym remembered his first kill well enough, not a proud moment to say the least but the look of awe at the fundamentals of death, he could almost see it on his unblemished and younger face. And his response had been somewhat similar, his own lessons coming back. His next words were like a text book answer.

"It's easy to kill, and thus, it's just as easy to die."

She had said that, hadn't she? He decided to quit being nostalgic about dead people though and move on.

"Yeah, dead enough that I'll give it less than three minutes before he begins to stink."

Grym had it by the shoulder in one hand and slowly began to drag it down the ramp.

[Bambi Maddox]

Automatically, she lent her hand to the task of dragging the Aqualish, aiding Grym. As she did so, her mind quickly shifted from the fascination of the deed committed to recognizing the complications that arose from it.

"Where we gonna stow him?"

She tugged the cumbersom load, smacking his knee accidentally on the corner of the hallway.

"Will someone come looking for him?" Her mind jumped the to the next conclusion, "Will someone come looking for me?"

Suddenly the danger of what she had just done flooded into her mind and she started to be overwhelmed.

"Grym," she said, arresting Kandle with the concern in her voice, "what if someone finds out?"

[Grym Kandle]

"Death is just another form of business on the Smuggler's Moon. The law here exists to benefit the wealthy and the shrewd. This corpse was quite clearly neither and thus he is ignored."

Grym pulled the body down the ramp and Bambi and he dragged it across the tarmac of the docking bay. They neared the edge of the platform, an endless fall just meters away.

"We simply remove it. Holding onto the corpse will only cause more problems and the chaos of Nar Shadda will consume it well enough. Regardless though, if it eases you, we'll change locations as soon as possible."

[Bambi Maddox]

His words were comforting in themselves, but Bambi couldn't stop herself from shooting guilty, furtive glances about the hangar during the disposal of the Aqualish.

She had never felt more exposed in her entire life than she had during those interminable few moments. Even her first solo-spotlight dance paled in comparison to the vunerability she now felt.

"I hope your right" she replied as she peered over the precipice and vigorously rubbed her hands down her pantlegs trying to remove the feeling of "dead guy" from off then.

Grym noticed she walked a little closer beside him as they returned to the ship. A little brisker, too. If he was amused by her distress, she could not tell from the unchanging expression of his mask.

"A change of scenery sounds like a pretty good idea, to me" she said, leading the way quickly back up the ramp.

"Gawd, I'd kill for a drink.."

[Grym Kandle]

Grym casually walked up the ramp, following Bambi and hit the switch for the ramp to close as he reached the top.

"I have some industrial liquor in the back, otherwise, we'll probably hit a bar up tonight if you want. We might have a long day tomorrow. We'll be meeting Morgan on a casino yacht almost out of the atmosphere."

Industrial liquor could peel the paint off durasteel and not even the hardiest races of the galaxy would bother with it unless they felt like digesting some of the lining of their intestines as well. Grym used it in very, very small portions to prevent any infections from appearing within his fragile digestive system.

The mask and cloak shifted off from his body as he slid them back onto their hooks. Bambi had been more than aware of her surroundings after disposing of the body, she'd been visibly anxious. Grym might have been the same way. He could not and did not want to remember if that was the case.

He slumped into the pilot seat and kickstarted the systems. Seven system errors appeared before Grym hit a few keys and what was actually a simple security system was shut down. The craft slowly came to life, the engines humming to life in the back. Grym passed on the code for the docking bay and the computer cleared him for departure.

[Bambi Maddox]

Grym heard the telltale Pop! as Bambi levered off the cap to a bottle of beer against the edge of the kitchen counter.

She'd broken into her recently purchased supply before the ship had even left dock. He heard her guzzle noisily.

A second Pop!

Bambi dropped herself into the navigator seat beside Grym and offered him the second bottle, which he declined, preferring to focus on a text-book perfect departure. With a shrug, Bambi resigned herself to drink both.

Her gaze was distant as the craft rose and banked right to clear the hangar bay. And for a few moments there was silence between them - not what one would call companionable, but the silence that came when people had heavy thoughts on their mind. Grym knew what she was thinking, feeling. He'd had a first time once too. He knew she was seeing that Aqualish again, his smoking chest, his body spiralling in freefall in the thin air off the ledge, his dead eyes accusing her. She'd be seeing that face for years to come, yet. But he didn't tell her that. There really wasn't much to say under such circumstances. Nice kill? Well done? You'll get used to it? The guy was scum? It was something a person had to resolve within themselves if they were ever to prove to be any good in this game. He'd had to do it. So did she.

It was Bambi that first broke the quiet as she finished the one, then moved on to the next, bottle.

"Tell me about this Morgan fella, then"

[Grym Kandle]

Grym snapped out of his daze slowly. He was definitely not used to having any company, much less a partner. And not one that he shared D&D with. Death and Duties, that's what she had called it a long time ago. The death, disposal, clean up, and then site extraction that all fell under accomplishing a clean kill. It had definitely been a while, and Grym tried to think back to what it had been like for his first time. Was Bambi handling it the same way? Did he even dare to go into it?

She saved him from any further thought on the matter...

"Uh... Morgan, the guy is as good as his word, it would seem. He's come through twice so far and as far as I've experienced, he's a modest player in the field and one who won't bring the Hutts or the Empire down on us. His job falls under the information slicer and hacker line, and all that entails I assume. I've not dealt with him enough to establish whether he actually pulls the orders or he's passing them along to shops. Either way he's good for the money and came highly recommended along my string of contacts.

He meets us at a place that I designate, hands over the information, I confirm its value and then directly deposit funds to an account that he later retrieves at his own convenience. Very simple.

This time, we're meeting him on a luxury yacht, a free lance casino run by some guy out of Bespin. It's almost out of the atmosphere, so we'll dock, get some rest and then head over there in a little while."